The postal service can't say exactly where community mailboxes will be placed as it phases out home delivery to the third of Canadians who still have it.

Community mailboxes like this one in Richmond Hill can pose challenges to elderly or handicapped people, particularly in bad weather. But in dense urban areas, there's another challenge: where to put them.

Canada Post unveiled sweeping changes Wednesday that will end all home mail delivery within five years and replace it with communal mailboxes, leaving some Toronto residents wondering where new boxes will fit in their densely packed neighbourhoods.

The national postal service doesn’t know yet.

Canada Post spokesperson Anick Losier said Wednesday it has yet to determine where the new boxes go, how far people will have to travel to get their mail, or how many households each box will serve.

“All of this is under planning as of today,” said Losier, hours after the changes were announced.

In Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood, where century-old houses are wedged together and street parking is scarce, residents were hard-pressed to point out a spot to install a communal mailbox.

“I have no idea where they would do that,” said Adam Thom, 32, standing on Brunswick Ave.

Thom said space is already at a premium, and to put a mailbox on one of the side streets would mean carving out space on somebody’s lawn.

“Are they going to put it right on the corner of Bloor St. and Brunswick, where I live?” he asked.

Lynn Spink, who lives on Albany Ave. just north of Bloor St., said area parks are the only place she can imagine new boxes fitting in. “And there certainly would be an outcry from the neighbourhood, which is very defensive about maintaining the parks as quiet sitting places,” she said.

“Green space is scarce enough in the city.”

Losier said the specifics of the mailbox rollout will vary from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, and that Canada Post will consult municipalities to find proper locations for them, with safety and accessibility as determining factors. The first neighbourhoods making the switch will be announced in the latter half of 2014.

Wednesday’s announcement also included plans to raise the price of stamps, “streamline” business, open more retail outlets and cut up to 8,000 jobs, all with a view to bringing the postal service in line with a marked decline in mailed letters, the agency said.

The measure to kill off home delivery, however, heralds the end of a 20th century institution with established stereotypes, including the heavily bundled mailman dodging mean dogs, and children on staircases waiting for letters to flop through the front door.

The first chink in the home mail delivery regime opened in the mid-1980s, when Canada Post stopped slipping mail through the doors at new housing developments. Three decades later, two-thirds of Canadians, representing 10 million households, are already outside the reach of home mail delivery, according to Canada Post.

People at these addresses rely on lobby mailboxes, curbside or rural mailboxes and well-established community mailboxes, use of which Canada Post says is a “more secure, convenient and cost-effective” way to deliver the mail.

People in Scarborough aren’t so sure.

Chris D’Arcy, who put his Christmas cards in the mailbox Wednesday morning, said the news was disappointing. He questioned the security of the community mailboxes, their accessibility, and the job losses that could result.

“What about the handicapped and the elderly? We can get by. We can change, though we don’t really want to,” he said.

His wife, Rita, expressed surprise at the announcement, and said going to a community mailbox is a pain.

“We’re older, my husband and I. We’d rather send by mail,” she said. “It’s why people live in the city — for the conveniences.”

Camay Dyal, who has lived nearby on Camrose Cres. for 40 years, said she expects home delivery to be a convenience of urban living.

“If we wanted to live outside the city, we’d be there,” she said. “I love being able to go to my mailbox and the mail is there. Even in bad weather, you have to get your mail at some point.”

West of the city, in Mississauga, Riaud Abdul and his family have relied on a community mailbox for more than six years. He said going there isn’t a trial; it’s a reason to rub shoulders with the neighbourhood.

“They’re right around the corner. It’s always been a convenient way to go out and get your mail,” said Abdul, 19.

“When you’re out there, you run into each other,” he added. “It’s a little bit of an excuse, or a push, to socialize with each other.”

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.